It's not that the Heene family failed so miserably in the parents' shot at fame. Truth be told, they won that battle. Maybe it's Andy Warhol's consummate "fifteen minutes of fame." Or maybe it's just that our little club called "society" can never, ever get enough of this stuff.

Look at me! I'm writing about it.

Look at you! You're reading my writing about it.

Face it -- seeing this thing flying through the northern Colorado sky last week was just plain weird. And kinda awesome, to boot.

I saw it on live t.v. and thought "good grief, the aliens have arrived, and they're driving an intergalactic Pinto." Then, the breathless newspeople said there was a young boy aboard this thing, and it got ookie and creepy.

Finally, after two hours of helicopter coverage and interviews with the Heenes' neighbor, the balloon landed, and wasn't that a sight -- a uniformed officer (whose uniform, sadly, was a polo shirt -- I'll be sure to respect that when the grid goes down) lunging for the guide wires we were told had given way and put the poor boy in danger. The ground beneath them looked like the American farmland melded with a Japanese garden.

a new Olympic demonstration sport, slated for the London Games of 2012

Then, the huh?-ness of rescuers not feverishly ripping the hatch off the balloon to save the boy. Just standing around and by-golly not doing much of anything.

"THE BOY'S NOT ON BOARD!" As though a contraption like this could have a board to be on. Because newscasters will tell you -- probably at the next panel discussion at the Museum of Television and Radio -- that they just had to bring it up ("it was germane," Anderson Cooper will probably say). Bring what up?

"HAS THE BOY FALL TO HIS DEATH SOMEWHERE ABOVE NORTHERN COLORADO?!!" This followed theories that the balloon COULD COLLIDE WITH JETS OVER DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT or that the balloon was HEADED STRAIGHT FOR DOWNTOWN DENVER!

Except for the part where it wasn't. "THERE ARE BUILDINGS IN DENVER THAT ARE VERY TALL! WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THIS AIRCRAFT STRUCK ONE OF THOSE BUILDINGS IN THE MIDDLE OF A WORKDAY?!!"

You mean, this aircraft?

and to think, the feds forgot to raise the Alert Level to...uh, what, silver?!

I dunno...it'd probably make us all forget 9/11 ever happened.

The rest of the story you know. Boy not aboard. Boy not fallen to his death. Boy "hiding in the attic." Boy claiming to be scared of letting daddy's balloon get away. Boy spilling beans to Wolf Blitzer that it was "for the show." Father acting indignant at suggestions that this could be a hoax. Mother alternating 'tween teary and wacky. Media irretrievably stuck to the story like an accident at the Elmer's Glue factory.

Now, it's Hoaxville for sure, and boy, are do the authorities have the Heenes in their sights.

I don't much care that it was a hoax. Sure, the parents, and the father in particular, are strung-out hi-test Grade A fame junkies. They also have the disturbing habit of plopping their kids in the backseat when they go driving straight at tornadoes. If I were Falcon Heene, the boy with the perfect-for-television name, I'd be counting the days 'til I was old enough to kick Dad square in the weather balloons.

Falcon Heene: "Boy, do I know something you wanna know..."

Hoax or not, American t.v. media sure does love jumping up and down, clapping its hands in over-excited glee, and unleashing an oddly blended concoction of well-worn and heavily rehearsed clichés, stuttering lack of comprehension, and queries for people in the field who haven't any clue what's transpiring than the well-coiffed behind the studio desks.

One network brought on an "expert" -- someone who pilots hot-air balloons. Since the Balloon Boy balloon was a pilotless contraption filled with helium, the expert was reduced to answering most questions with well, I fly hot-air balloons, and this isn't one of those, so I can't say. But if I had to guess...

After a while, there was no story left in the story. That didn't stop the news networks from bleeding what they could out of Balloon Boy.

There have been other hoaxes. Clifford Irving's Howard Hughes autobiography. The Piltdown Man. Affordable housing and jobs at the Atlantic Yards project. Butnot the Loch Ness Monster. Nessie is real, man!

Which of these things is real? Hint -- it's not the one in the color picture.

As a rule, we like hoaxes. The best part is that they often make us believe harder. We're all Fox Mulder -- we all want to believe. Because we're ready to believe a hoax, even root for it, it means we're more than ready for when it's the real thing.

There's no surprise in any of this. There's certainly no surprise in me getting all huffy about it, either. It'd just be nice, just once, for the sky to really, truly be falling when folks on live breaking-news t.v. tell us it is.

Next thing you know, they'll be going on and on that some basketball arena is getting built in the middle of Brooklyn.

Yeah, right...

* * * * * * * *

Thanks to everyone who turned out for the big Spunk Lads gig at Freddy's this past Friday. It was, as per usual and par excellence, a real 'loo wrecker. Bigger thanks to everyone who supported Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's annual Walkathon this past Saturday. Your donations and emotional support are appreciated beyond words.

Thank you.

* * * * * * * *

This week's Rocky Sullivan's Pub Quiz is a General Knowledge Night. If it's happened, is happening or will happen, it could be part of this week's Quiz.

Our Guest Round mastermind will be the always intriguing, always NYC-centric and always buoyant Morgan Doninger, the brains behindPuzzling New York, the city's best quiz website dedicated to the endless wonderments of the City of New York.

Not just Quizzy goodness. Not just Morgan Donanger. Not just Puzzling New York. Not just good drinking, good eats, good company and gambolic revelry.

No...there's also this:

Seven rounds of quizzy goodness in the realms of culture, music and imagery. But there's so much more!

Rocky Sullivan's Pub Quiz SuperMix Compilation CD -- answer a super-tough question and win a mix CD of full versions of all the songs in this week's Music Round;

Special prizes from the Quizmaster's Magic Bag Of Stuff You Can Live Without But Why Would You?

Grand Prize -- a thirst-slaking round for everyone on the winning team.

DON'T FORGET: As is custom, somewhere in this e-mail is a clue for this week's Pre-Quiz Bonus Question. Get it right and your team earns five points before the Quiz has started.

Gird, my friends, gird. It's about to be Halloween. Then the really cold weather, the holiday season, and the mad rush toward 2010. Best way to gird for gold? Come down to tomorrow's Rocky Sullivan's Pub Quiz.

You know it. You're living just enough, just enough for the citeeeeee.

Sure the Lion King is woonderful! And who wouldn't love to see a musical version of Catch Me if You Can?

That's if you can catch a ten pound bag o' money to afford the tickets!

But down in the East Village, Affordable and Awesome NYC theater percolates and brews, on East 4th Street!

This week's FAB Tix are on sale Thursday, October 22 andFriday, October 23 from 1-6PM.Stop by for these awesome 2for1 ticket deals! TWO FOR ONE

But don't take our words for it, take the visual for it! The new wave in "commercials!"

The East 4th Street Cultural District is only one block long, yet it encompasses 12 theaters, 8 dance/rehearsal studios, 3 film editing suites, and a large screening room. In the next 2 years, an estimated 40,000 sq. feet of vacant space will be transformed into active cultural use; in 10 years, cultural space on the block will exceed 145,000 sq. feet – a powerful legacy in a city where affordable space for artists is an increasingly rare commodity.

You've heard the names, you know the score.

And now FAB is offering 2 for 1, we repeat 2 for 1 for tickets for some of the hottest shows on the block!

From the LGBT Center's March for Women's Lives in Washington in 2004 to the 5 + year fight in Brooklyn against boondagle rat, Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards debacle - Miss Wit has got your chest covered.

And as seen yesterday at Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's Fifth Annual Walk a Thon (yeah 5 years of bake sales, walk a thons, concert a thons and donations and tshirts, and dance a thons and and ... to kick the greedy big butt of Ratner and his NYC and NYS government buddies) - now we even got organic DDDB Totes for all. Made from Wind Powered Energy Sources.As one local Brooklyn web designer said when we showed her"wow, that is one iconic bag!!"

Look, sometimes Miss Wit is slow on the uptake, aka it's hard to know all the hip stuff at once. Enter Dan Meth - he's been around enough to win lots of nouveau interweb awards, but fine we only just realized his greatness. So, as the friend who introduced him to us would say "So, sue me!" Enjoy.

Oh and those of you who might be members on the Miss Wit Snarky No Benefits Club on Facebook - apparently in order to stay, become, try, whatever, to be hip, she needs to have a Fan Page as well...join us. For what quite yet, she ain't so sure. Check out the right side of the blog. (You should still join the club though, 'cause Miss Wit makes everyone an officer! The Fan Page, eh not so much).

From the greatest quiz show on earth, from the greatest quiz mail in the universe ( that's right martians, you got nothing!)

Every week, our fearless Rocky Sullivan's Pub Quiz Master Scott MX Turner sends a heartfelt email to his expansive list of attendees. You learn! You laugh! You sometimes actually cry. And you get a clue to the bonus question. Test your knowledge now on last week's photo round!

Hereeeeeeeeee's Scott!

Greetings, Pub Quiz Walk Five Hundred Milers...

Okay, any mention of a walkathon is gonna elicit a Proclaimers reference. Or Nancy Sinatra. Some things are automatic, like crying at the end of Old Yeller or that gag reflex whenever another Mike for Mayor ad comes on the t.v.

I'm walking in it this year. You know the drill -- Ratner, lousy development project, sixteen skyscrapers, a basketball arena, a Russianoligarch team owner, billions of taxpayer dollars wasted, no appreciable numbers of affordable housing or newly-created jobs, overwhelming traffic, exploitation of Brooklyn Dodger mythology, environmental and health concerns, blighted wasteland created by Ratner and not time, lack of democratic process, eminent domain abuse.

Wow..that's the shortest I've ever summed it up.

Stopping Ratner's boondoggle and replacing it with a project that makes sense for the surrounding communities. This is a crucial time -- the project will either proceed after New Year's 2010 or it'll be a goner.

Whether you've followed this from afar or heard me talk about it up close, you know what's at stake. DDDB's legal bill are hefty. Along with dozens of other community groups, DDDB has been fighting the Atlantic Yards for six years. Six years.

The Walkathon is what DDDB does to keep going. Walkathons...bake sales...benefit concerts...the passing of many hats...small checks from concerned citizens. DDDB has never had the hundreds of millions of private and government money available to Forest City Ratner for their endless p.r. assault. The money raised at this year's Walkathon goes to DDDB's legal fight.

These are tough times. Too many people and groups have their hands out. This is mine, on behalf of DDDB. If you can help out, either by sponsoring my walk or heading toDDDB's websiteand signing up to walk yourself, that would be grand. You can get more info on the issues there as well.

That's the spiel. I don't make it lightly.

Also, there's this: a week from Friday, on October 16th, the legendary 1970s London punk rockers The Spunk Lads will be playing Freddy's Bar & Backroom. They're all living in Brooklyn now, and support DDDB's fight against the Atlantic Yards. According to the Lads' lead singer Nick Knickers, "wot if they'd tried this in Camden? I'd bloody well fall over effin' basketball fans and condo buggers and end up with me 'ead in bandages. Bloody 'orrible, that!"

Sez it all.

The Spunk Lads will be headlining DDDB's Pre-Walkathon Party. Also on the bill are the John Sharples Band, comedian Pat O'Shea, Judy Gorman, Steve Espinola and Neil deMause. Starts at 8 in the evening.

You never know when it'll be the last chance to see the world's most exciting band, still at it over thirty years after they single-handedly -- well, eight hands between them -- birthed the London punk scene. Little is remembered of their early days, but much is enjoyed when they play shows today -- rare as that is. 'Loos are wrecked as well. Call in the American Standard people...it'll be a busy night in Brooklyn.

Don't miss it. You've been warned.

Back to our regularly-scheduled Quizmail screed next week.

Thanks...

* * * * * * * *

Last week's Rocky Sullivan's Pub Quiz was an eight-team affair. The exotically-monikered Hovercraft Full of Eels won going away, topping runners up We Are Looking For Curly and Bridesman Revisted.

Big huge special thanks, props and whatever else eminates from an e-mail to last week's Guest Round mastermind Trevor Williams, whose Holy Trinity of Guest Round, Guest Music Round and Guest Photo Round, on three separate topics unified by Trevor's love for all three, was a spectacular undertaking.

Here're last week's Quizcasso winners -- nice work by all. You'll notice one multi-media work -- pen and pizza-topping. It's the first instance of the Quizcasso scanner needing a cleaning after the weeklyn image-capturing.

Here's last week's Trevor-helmed Photo Round -- Video Games from yesteryear and today. Drop your quarter, grab the joystick, and have at it. Answers down at the bottom.

* * * * * * * *

And yes, on Monday night, Cheer's Norm, a.k.a. George Wendt, did indeed stop by Rocky's for a few pints. Thanks to everyone from the Quiz community who came out for the night -- it was a good number of you.

George is a swell guy, friendly to all, a pal of the bar's, and another reason Rocky Sullivan's is unlike any other bar in New York City.

* * * * * * * *

This week's Rocky Sullivan's Pub Quiz will be a warm, cozy, comfy indoor affair. It's a General Knowledge Night. Come for the fun, the food, the drink, and Guest Round mastermind Sam Ahmad's double-turn at the wheel. Sam is working right now to craft both the week's Guest Round questions and Guest Audio Round. THAT'S RIGHT, audio round. Might not be a music round. The Crotch Mavens can be heard singing like angels and already liking their chances.

Seven rounds of quizzy goodness in the realms of culture, music and imagery. But there's so much more!

WE'VE DONE IT! The Rocky Sullivan's Pub Quiz Fan Club page at Facebook has topped the Century Mark!! And it's gone past that, to 105! ...a big THANKS! If you haven't joined yet, stop by, join, trad barbs and witicisms and photos and poke each other and toss Vampire Quizmaster taunts at one another. Thanks, Deb Goldstein, for being the architect here.

If you've ever thought "hmmm, I'd like to have a drink with Norm, the corner-of-the-bar guy on Cheers," now's the time and tonight's the night.

George Wendt, a semi-regular at Rocky's, will be with us in Red Hook tonight -- that's TONIGHT -- from 8pm to 9pm.

Let's put it this way -- George Wendt is the real deal. He was the perfect casting for Norm, Cheer's barstool sage. A friend of Rocky's, Wendt always makes the evening soar.

Making the evening soar even higher, it's the Rocky's Monday night Traditional Irish Music Seisiun -- Irish music bearing the marks of old Ireland and today's Brooklyn.

What's wrong with New York City these days? No one does spur-of-the-moment things anymore. What's right about George Wendt pulling and putting away pints at Rocky's? It's the perfect spur-of-the-moment night.

***Shirt of The Week***

BE HER FAN!!! You Know Facebook!

About Miss Wit

Miss Wit is a collaboration of time and space, years of finely tuned humor, designers, wit makers, doers and dreamers.

Miss Wit is tragic, sinful, cynical, sarcastic FUN.
She an HONEST ENGINE, she is HOMEGROWN, HOMEMADE, PIG HEADED and HUMBLED PIE. Sure, MissWit gets down, that is why she needs you, MissWit needs you!!! Calling all yous! But, rest assured — MissWit will be there for you, if you just let her dare!